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Well that's ruined things slightly.
I went out to jump in the car which was parked just outside my house in its usual spot, to discover I've been given a bloody parking ticket.
The parking bay is just long enough for four cars to fit in, with angled ends, but recently the council decided to reduce the size of the usable space by painting double yellow lines over the angled parts. I can see why they did this, to stop people parking side-on to these bits, thus having their rear end causing an obstruction on the road.
But my car wasn't causing any obstruction to anyone. I went as far back as possible to allow space for other cars to get in. The rear wheels where barely touching the yellow lines. Had I been four inches further forward they couldn't have touched me. But some over-zealous parking warden comes along and decides that I have made the following parking contravention:
Parking or loading/unloading in a restricted street where waiting and loading/unloading restrictions are in force.
Decide for yourself, I'd be interested to hear what you think. But it looks to me like I'm not doing too much wrong.
This just seems like a money making exercise to me. There's no way I'm going to line the council coffers for something as trifling as this. As Naldo said to me, I'd rather pay a bit more in a fair and equitable tax than get hit for ridiculous so-called infringements like this.
I'm gonna dispute this and take it all the way if I have to.
Innit great when you take a half day?
Walking out your work a few minutes after 12 when your colleagues still have a good four or five hours of toil at the coalface. "See ye laters, I'm on a Colonel Gadaffi!" you trill whilst skipping out the door.
"Bastard!" they say, as escape just in time to avoid the pens, elastic bands and staplers which hit the back of the door.
It's even better when it is followed by a long weekend with both Friday and Monday off.
Yes, no work til Tuesday for me, and I'm going to enjoy it. Apart from maybe Saturday afternoon, but more on that later...
...With many a winding turn.
That's true, but I'm getting closer to my destination.
I wrote a while ago about my training for a half marathon that me, my bird and oor pal Laura are running. Well, I'm still training, and it's still going OK. With 5 and a half weeks to go, I'm slowly getting up to speed, if that isn't an oxymoron.
I have set myself an unofficial target of 2 hours to complete the 13.1 mile route. That means I have to run at an average speed of a mile every 9 minutes 9 seconds. That would be fine if I was running 6 miles, or even 8, but at this stage I'm not yet able to keep that pace up for 2 hours.
On Saturday I went out for a 6 mile run and completed it in 53 minutes which I was fairly happy with. But then I was kinda knackered for the rest of the day and felt a bit shabby, even when I was through in Glasgow watching Scotland win at fitba, as described beautifully by Naldo here. I managed to pull myself together and get dressed up for Biff's big 30th Birthday Bash along with Jonny Nipflick as Bros.
A lot of people had made a good effort and there were some cracking outfits. Me and Jonny were getting a lot of photos taken of us though and playing up to it terribly. I've seen some of the photos but I reckon there's more slightly embarrassing shots to show up yet.
After a couple of days off training to let the legs recover, I went out this evening and did a quick four mile run which I managed to complete in a smidgen over 33 minutes which is a new personal best for the route I took.
I'll have a day off the running tomorrow, though I might cycle to work, I'll do a bit of a run on Thursday and then head out and try and do 8 miles on Saturday morning before going to James and Lisa's wedding in the afternoon. That will be a full-on party and no mistake so I'll try not to be too done-in so I can properly enjoy it.
I still get a few aches and pains now and then, especially last week cos I foolishly played a game of football again, but overall I'm happy my fitness is getting better. I discovered I've been losing weight, about 12 pounds in the last three months, and the running is definitely getting easier.
I decided to try and raise a bit of money for the official charity of the half marathon, the Speyside Trust. As such, if you feel and generous and want to make an online contribution, however small, please feel free to do so. Any donation would be appreciated but I understand there's a lot of these things on the go all the time and nobody can give to them all.
I'll be back with another progress update before the big day.
